Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 cups of Strawberries, green tops removed
- 1 1/2 cups of Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 cup of Fresh Basil, chopped (about 15 large leaves)
- Juice of about 6 large Lemons (about 1- 1/2 cups)
- 6 cups of Water
Instructions
- Remove the green tops from the strawberries and chop them into pices. They don't need to be uniform because you will be pureeing them later.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the 2 cups of strawberries and 1 1/2 cups of sugar on medium low heat for about 10 minutes until the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally.
- While the strawberries and sugar cook, juice the lemons and add the juice to a half gallon pitcher along with the 6 cups of water.
- Once the sugar is almost dissolved, roughly chop the basil leaves and add to the saucepan and stir.
- After sugar is completely dissolved, use an immersion blender to puree the strawberry mixture, or pour the contents of the saucepan into a standard blender and puree until smooth.
- Add the strawberry basil mixture to the pitcher of lemon juice and water and stir.
- Refrigerate for at least four hours or until cool. Can be served as is or pour the lemonade through a fine mesh strainer or colander with small holes to catch the basil and any strawberry chunks if you want a smooth lemonade.
Notes
Be sure to stir before serving, because the strawberry mixture can settle to the bottom of the pitcher.
Keeps refrigerated for about 5 days.
The puree can be made a day or two ahead of time if needed.
Be sure to use fresh squeezed lemon juice rather than bottled for better tasting lemonade.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Additional Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Category: Appetizers and Drinks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 194
- Sugar: 45
- Sodium: 27
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 51
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 1
- Cholesterol: 0